South Korea bans BMW on the road

With one BMW car after another catching fire... owners have been taking legal action against the German automaker... while the Korean government says, it's not going to allow BMWs that haven't done safety tests on the road.

For more on this story, here's our Choi Si-young.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it wants local governments to ban BMW cars that have not gone through safety examinations, starting from Wednesday.

The minister invoked the Automobile Management Act that empowers the heads of regional governments to order a safety check and place a ban on automobiles deemed unsafe.

"Pursuant to the Automobile Management Act, I ask local governments to ban BMWs that have not gone through safe tests."

The minister also asked BMW Korea to cater for owners' needs during the recall process.

She cited free car rental as one way to compensate car owners for the inconvenience.

The minister also called on the German carmaker to answer the question of whether it was intentionally hiding vehicle defects and putting off the recall decision.

As of Monday, out of 100-thousand cars subject to recall, about 27-thousand cars have not yet taken the safety examinations.

These car owners are allowed to drive only for the purpose of taking the safety tests,... once the ban comes into effect tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the owner of the first BMW to catch fire testified to police yesterday afternoon.

He had filed a criminal complaint last Thursday against BMW, seeking a criminal investigation.

The man's lawyer said more people are lined up to join the suit,... and he will file further police complaints.